Events / Editor / 03 August 2007 /

Second only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Kempton's King George VI Chase run on Boxing Day, is one of the National Hunt and betting highlights of the season and the centrepiece of the two-day Kempton Christmas meeting.

The race has proved a happy hunting ground for the betting public, who have often bet on great horses to win not once, but twice, and have seen their bets handsomely rewarded at generous odds.

Even that feat has been surpassed however by two legendary horses close to the hearts of those who like a bet and genuinely love the winter game. Wayward Lad won three times in the early 80's, whilst later on that decade the mighty Desert Orchid won the first of his odds-defying four victories.

The trend has been set then, and many bets this time around will be riding on subsequent Gold Cup winer Kauto Star, who took the King George in 2006 when odds-on at the head of the betting at 8/13. Paul Nicholls' star landed some monster bets that day and brought home even more winning betting tickets at Newbury and Cheltenham later on in the season.

The Kempton fixture also includes the Christmas Hurdle, a long established trial for the Champion Hurdle in March, that brings together some of the very best two milers in the business. The outcome of this strong betting heat invariably causes a shake up in the ante-post odds for the main event three months later, but those that follow the 'stats' will be aware that the odds are long against the winner of this race following up in the Champion Hurdle and might tailor their bets accordingly, as no horse has done the double since Kribensis in 1989.

The second day of the meeting sees two strong betting heats, the Grade 2 events the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, and the Desert Orchid Chase, both of which tend to attract quality horses with Cheltenham aspirations. The betting odds and market moves should give plenty of indications as to which horses are attracting the serious bets this time around.

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